Chettinad Chicken Gravy |Chettinad Chicken Kuzhambu| Chicken Chettinad curry

These days i am trying variety of chicken dishes.so after kodi kura,green chicken gravy & chicken vindaloo ,my next recipe was chettinad chicken curry.

You’ll find this listed in almost every South Indian restaurant menu .

The chicken is cooked with some distinct ingredients such as poppy seeds , fennel seeds, coriander seeds that give it a peculiar taste.

Chettinad cuisine is the cuisine of the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu state in South India. The Chettiar community, who are a majority in this region, are a very successful trading community. Chettinad cuisine is one of the spiciest and the most aromatic in India.

Chettinad cuisine is famous for its use of a variety of spices used in preparing mainly non-vegetarian food. The dishes are hot and pungent with fresh ground masalas, and topped with a boiled egg that is usually considered essential part of a meal. They also use a variety of sun dried meats and salted vegetables, reflecting the dry environment of the region. The meat is restricted to fish, prawn, lobster, crab, chicken and lamb. Chettiars do not eat beef and pork.

Spices used

In Chettinad food, the most important spices are maratti mokku (dried flower pods), anasipoo (star aniseed) and kalpasi (a lichen known as the "black stone flower", also known as dagad phool). In addition, tamarind, whole red chillies, and sombu (fennel seed) are also used along with pattai (cinnamon), lavangam (cloves), bay leaf, karu miLagu (peppercorn), jeeragam (cumin seeds), and venthayam (also called mendhiyam) (fenugreek).

Chettinad cuisine offers a variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Some of the popular vegetarian dishes include idiyappam, paniyaram, vellai paniyaram, karuppatti paniyaram, paal paniyaram, kuzhi paniyaram, kozhakattai, masala paniyaram, adikoozh, kandharappam, seeyam, masala seeyam, kavuni arisi & athirasam.

 I Am sure everyone at home will definitely love this delicious curry.

 

Ingredients:
500 gms chicken, washed and cut into medium sized pieces
 1 cup onions
 1 cup chopped tomatoes
 1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
 10-12 curry leaves
 1 cup coconut milk
 fresh coriander leaves for garnish
 salt to taste
2 tbsp ginger garlic chilli paste
3 tbsp oil
2 tsp red chilli powder

Garam masala to grind:
 1 tsp poppy seeds
1/2 tsp pepper corns
 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
 3/4 tsp fennel seeds
 1 1/2 tbsps coriander seeds
 6-8 dry red chillies
 2 cardamoms
 1 inch cinnamon
 6-7 curry leaves

 


Method:

1 Dry  roast the ingredients above under "garam masala to grind"  on medium heat stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from fire, cool and grind to a powder.



2. Heat oil in a kadhai ,add the small onions,ginger garlic chilli paste  and curry leaves and saute till transparent.

3. Add the ground masala  powder in step 1,red chilli powder and cook for a minute before adding the chicken and cook on high heat for approx 4 mts and do stir the chicken once in a while.



4.Reduce to medium heat, add salt, turmeric powder and tomatoes and combine well. Let the chicken cook in this for 4-5 minutes, uncovered.

5. Now add the coconut milk . cover with  lid & cook  till chicken is done .


6.  Turn off heat and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
 8 Serve hot with white steamed rice, biryani, chapatis or dosas